The co-princes of Andorra are jointly the heads of state ( ca, cap d'estat) of the Principality of
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
, a landlocked
microstate lying in the
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...
between
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Founded in 1278 by means of a treaty between the
Bishop of Urgell
The Diocese of Urgell is a diocese in Catalonia (Spain) and Andorra in the historical County of Urgell, and the
Count of Foix
The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their court ...
, this unique
diarchical arrangement has persisted through medieval times to the 21st century. Currently, the Bishop of Urgell (
Joan Enric Vives Sicília) and the
president of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
(
Emmanuel Macron) serve as Andorra's co-princes, following the transfer of the count of Foix's claims to the
Crown of France and, thence, to the president of France. Each co-prince appoints a
personal representative
In common law jurisdictions, a personal representative or legal personal representative is a person appointed by a court to administer the estate of another person. If the estate being administered is that of a deceased person, the personal repres ...
, the episcopal co-prince by
Josep Maria Mauri
Josep Maria Mauri i Prior (born 21 October 1941) is a Spanish Catholic priest from Catalonia and the current personal representative of the episcopal co-prince of Andorra, Archbishop Joan Enric Vives Sicília.
He was born in 1941 in Alzina de ...
and the French co-prince currently being represented by
Patrick Strzoda
Patrick Strzoda (, ; born 5 January 1952) is a French high-ranking civil servant, a former prefect, and current French President Emmanuel Macron's chief of staff at the Élysée Palace. As President of France, Macron also serves ''ex officio'' as ...
.
Origin and development of the co-principality
Tradition holds that
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...
granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for their fighting against the
Moors
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or ...
. The
feudal overlord of this territory was at first the
Count of Urgell
This is a list of the counts of Urgell, a county of the Principality of Catalonia in the 10th through 13th centuries.
c. 798–870 Counts appointed by the Carolingians
*798–820 Borrell, count of Urgell and Cerdanya
*820–824 Aznar Galínde ...
. In 988, however, the count,
Borrell II
Borrell II (died 993) was Count of Barcelona, Girona and Ausona from 945 and Count of Urgell from 948.
Borrell was first seen acting as Count during the reign of his father Sunyer II in 945 at the consecration of the nunnery church of Sant Per ...
, gave Andorra to the
Diocese of Urgell
The Diocese of Urgell is a diocese in Catalonia (Spain) and Andorra in the historical County of Urgell, in exchange for land in
Cerdanya.
The Bishop of Urgell, based in
Seu d'Urgell, has ruled Andorra ever since.
[Things about the history of Andorra]
French Co-prince
Before 1095, Andorra did not have any type of military protection, and since the Bishop of Urgell knew that the Count of Urgell wanted to reclaim the Andorran valleys,
[ he asked for help from the lord of Caboet. In 1095, the lord and the bishop signed a declaration of their co-sovereignty over Andorra. Arnalda, daughter of Arnau of Caboet, married the viscount of Castellbò, and both became viscounts of Castellbò and Cerdanya. Their daughter, Ermessenda, married Roger Bernat II, the French ]count of Foix
The Count of Foix ruled the independent County of Foix, in what is now Southern France, during the Middle Ages. The House of Foix eventually extended its power across the Pyrenees mountain range, joining the House of Bearn and moving their court ...
. They became, respectively, count and countess of Foix, viscount and viscountess of Castellbò and Cerdanya, and also co-sovereigns of Andorra (together with the Bishop of Urgell).
In the 11th century, a dispute arose between the Bishop of Urgell and the Count of Foix. The conflict was mediated by Aragon in 1278, and led to the signing of the first paréage, which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the count[ and the bishop. This gave the principality its territory and political form, and marked the formal commencement of Andorra's unique monarchical arrangement.
Through inheritance, the Foix title to Andorra passed to the kings of Navarre. After King Henry III of Navarre became King ]Henry IV of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...
, he issued an edict in 1607 establishing the king of France and the Bishop of Urgell as co-princes of Andorra. In 1812–13, the First French Empire
The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...
annexed Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...
and divided it into four département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety ...
s, with Andorra forming part of the district of Puigcerdà
Puigcerdà (; es, Puigcerdá) is the capital of the '' Catalan comarca'' of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts directly onto the French town of Bourg-Ma ...
(department of Sègre). Following the defeat of Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, a royal decree reversed this annexation, and Andorra reverted to its former independence and political state. The French head of state—whether king, emperor, or president—has continued to serve as a co-prince of Andorra ever since.
Recent history
On 12 July 1934, Andorra's monarchical system was challenged by an adventurer named Boris Skossyreff, who issued a proclamation in Urgell declaring himself "Boris I, King of Andorra". Though initially enjoying some support within Andorra's political establishment, he was ultimately arrested by Spanish authorities on 20 July 1934 after declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell (who had refused to relinquish his own claim to the principality). Skossyreff was expelled, and was never considered to have been the Andorran monarch in any legal sense.
Before 1993, Andorra had no codified constitution, and the exact prerogatives of the co-princes were not specifically defined in law. In March 1993, a Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
was approved by a vote of the Andorran people and signed into law by the two reigning co-princes at the time: Bishop Joan Martí Alanis and President François Mitterrand. It clarified the continuance of the unique Andorran diarchy, and also delineated the precise role and prerogatives of the two co-princes. Prior to adoption of the Constitution, Andorra paid in odd-numbered years a tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...
of approximately $460 to the French ruler, while on even-numbered years, it paid a tribute of approximately $12 to the Spanish bishop, plus six ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...
s, six cheeses, and six live chickens. This medieval custom was subsequently abandoned in 1993.
In 2009, French president Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to abdicate as French co-prince if the principality did not change its banking laws to eliminate its longstanding status as a tax haven
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
.
Contemporary political role
The Constitution of Andorra carefully defines the exact role and prerogatives of the co-princes of Andorra today. The constitution establishes Andorra as a "parliamentary coprincipality", providing for the Bishop of Urgell and the president of France to serve together as joint heads of state. The constitution distinguishes between which powers they may exercise on their own (Article 46), and which require the countersignature of the head of the Andorran government, or the approval of the "Síndic General", the Andorran legislature (Article 45).
Powers the co-princes may exercise on their own include:
*Joint exercise of the "prerogative of grace" (the power to pardon);
*Each co-prince may appoint one member of the Superior Council of Justice and one member of the Constitutional Tribunal;
*Establishment of such services as they deem necessary to fulfil their constitutional prerogatives, and appointment of individuals to fulfil these services;
*Requesting a preliminary judgement about the constitutionality of proposed laws, or of international treaties;
*Agreeing to the text of any international treaty, prior to submitting it for parliamentary approval;
*Bringing a case before the Constitutional Tribunal in the event of any conflict over the exercise of their constitutional prerogatives.
Powers the co-princes may exercise in conjunction with the head of government include:
*Calling for elections or referendums in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Appointing the head of government in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Dissolve the General Council (the Andorran legislature) prior to the expiration of its current term (but not until at least one year has passed since the prior election);
*Accrediting diplomatic representatives from Andorra to foreign states, and receive credentials of foreign representatives to Andorra;
*Appointing office-holders in accordance with appropriate constitutional provisions;
*Sanctioning and enacting laws in accordance with constitutional provisions;
*Granting formal consent to international treaties, once ratified by the General Council.
Each co-prince is granted an annual allowance by the General Council to dispose of as he or she sees fit. Each appoints a personal representative in Andorra, and in the case of incapacitation of one of them, the constitution provides for the other prince to govern in his or her absence, with the concurrence of the Andorran head of government or the General Council.
Certain treaties require the participation of the co-princes (or their designated representatives) in their negotiation process as well as their final approval; these are detailed in Articles 66 and 67 of the constitution.
The co-princes jointly retain the right to propose amendments to the constitution; this same right rests with the General Council.[Constitution of Andorra, 105.] They have no veto power over legislation passed by the General Council, though they do retain a veto over certain international treaties, as described above.
List of rulers
See also
*List of heads of government of Andorra
The head of government of the Principality of Andorra (), alternatively known as the Prime Minister of Andorra, is the chief executive of the government of Andorra. They are appointed by the General Council. The position was created in 1982 aft ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Representació de S.E. El Copríncep Francés
El Copríncep d'Urgell
list of rulers for Andorra
{{Europe heads of state and government
Co-Princes
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
Andorra–France relations
Religion and politics
war:Mga Igkasi-Prinsipe han Andorra